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With a view to enhance the Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) programme, India is close on the heels of executing its high-tech underwater surveillance mechanism by way of the sonar system ‘Nagan’.
‘Nagan’ is a low frequency active-cum-passive towed array sonar system and is currently in the advanced stage of user trials. It is being developed by the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) based in Kochi with Bharat Electronics, Private Major Larsen & Toubro, Uniflex Cables and Keltron Ltd.
‘Nagan’ will bring in the much needed boost in the ASW programme since it facilitates long range detection and is meant for fitment onboard surface ships. According to NPOL Director S. Ananthanarayanan, the challenge with the ‘Nagan’ was to detect quieter targets in noisy environments and decoying torpedoes.
The towed array sonar system ‘Nagan’ will use a sensory array which will be towed behind a surface ship or submarine. It has a long array of hydrophones trailing behind the ship with an extended cable and the placement of hydrophones are equidistant on the array.
The sonar detects and classifies vessels at variable depths. With advanced technology, the turbulence of the own-ship propulsion does not affect the signals received by the sonar system.
However, tactical scenarios and the proper deployment and retrieval of the array will be the crucial aspect of the towed array system. Heavy research and development has enabled the NPOL and its partners to prevent mishaps like snapping of fiber optic cables due to hydrodynamic drag and other issues. The user trials of the system done on-board an offshore patrol vessel have proved successful.
Presently, the Indian Navy operates passive only towed array sonar system sourced from Thales of France.
NPOL is the sole research institution in India which has a core competence in the field of sonar systems. The NPOL also developed ‘Maareech’, an anti-torpedo system with towed and expendable decoys and the Navy has placed orders for three systems.
NPOL is also developing a multiple array seabed system for early warning from a reconnaissance point of view which will then form part of the integrated C4I2SR system. Besides that, NPOL has also developed the dunking sonar ‘Mihir’ and tested it on board the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) ‘Dhruv’
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